Seeing Evan Yang turn back and look at him, Forden Wayne was first startled, then quickly shifted his gaze elsewhere, muttering to himself, "Who is this person, and why is he only looking at me?"
After a while, when Forden Wayne looked again at the spot, the person had vanished. "Damn, I've lost him!"
"Lost who?" Suddenly, a voice sounded from behind Forden Wayne, startling him into turning around, only to see Evan Yang smiling at him.
"You... who are you?" Forden Wayne didn't know what to say, so he could only ask helplessly.
"Who am I? Seems like I should be asking you that. Why are you following me?" Evan Yang found a table, sat down, and smiled.
Seeing Evan Yang so relaxed, Forden Wayne awkwardly said, "I'm not following you."
"Oh? Still denying it?" Evan Yang stared straight at Forden Wayne, scaring him so much that he couldn't meet Evan's gaze and could only say, "I really just happened to see you."
"Alright, looks like you're still not being honest!" Evan Yang released his aura, immediately startling Forden Wayne, who hurriedly begged, "Senior, I... I..."
"You what?" Evan Yang snorted coldly.
"I was just entrusted by someone to check if you had any connection with another person." At this moment, Forden Wayne was extremely frustrated; not saying anything meant death, saying something also meant death.
"Who?" Evan Yang withdrew his aura and asked curiously.
"I was entrusted by the Bai Family to see if you had any connection with the beggar." Forden Wayne thought it over and could only reveal one of the main parties involved.
"Bai Family?" Evan Yang was first surprised, then asked, "What's their purpose?"
"They want to find that beggar to avenge the two sons the Bai Family lost." Forden Wayne said awkwardly.
"Oh? So it's about revenge. Just go back and tell them I have nothing to do with any beggar. Do whatever you want, but stop following me. Otherwise, don't blame me for being rude." Evan Yang didn't want to be stalked every day, even if he wasn't discovered immediately, people would eventually dig up something.
Forden Wayne was stunned for a moment, then quickly replied, "Understood, Senior."
"Hmph." Evan Yang left angrily, leaving Forden Wayne drenched in cold sweat. Only after Evan really left did Forden Wayne get up and hurry away, heading for Eight-Tier Infinity Peak.
At that moment, Nangong Yan and the others were still sitting there, waiting for Forden Wayne's report.
After quite a while, Forden Wayne suddenly returned. Nangong Yan asked curiously, "Why did you come back so early? Did you discover anything?"
"I was discovered." Forden Wayne said gloomily.
"Discovered? Forden Wayne, you're usually so clever. How did you get caught this time?" Nangong Yan was first stunned, then spoke with some displeasure.
"Uh..." Forden Wayne didn't know how to explain.
Nangong Yan stood up and signaled to Gerald "Old Ghost" Bai. The three of them left the competition grounds and returned to their reserved inn.
"What exactly happened?" As soon as Nangong Yan sat down, he asked Forden Wayne, who had followed closely behind.
So Forden Wayne explained everything to Nangong Yan. After listening, the two of them fell into deep thought.
"Is his story believable?" Nangong Yan pondered aloud.
"Not sure. How about we just grab him?" Gerald "Old Ghost" Bai was impatient to find out Evan Yang's whereabouts—he'd rather catch a hundred by mistake than let one slip away.
"Grab him? Don't forget, he's been seen with people from Jinxiu Peak, and he can casually produce high-grade pills. His background is probably not simple." Nangong Yan replied thoughtfully.
"So just give up because it's hard?" Gerald "Old Ghost" Bai said unwillingly.
"Not exactly. Why don't we send someone to test him first?" Nangong Yan answered after hesitating for a moment.
"Who should we target?"
"Secretly grab that Chu Family girl." Nangong Yan replied.
"But the Huang Clan?" Gerald "Old Ghost" Bai expressed concern.
"Don't forget, as long as it's night and not competition hours, it's prime time for covert moves. Who will know the Chu Family girl was kidnapped by us? Besides, so many people saw the Chu Family accept that pill during the day—I'm sure plenty are eager to snatch it themselves." Nangong Yan sneered.
"True. The Huang Clan controls things during the matches, but after, they're probably just watching the drama from the sidelines." Gerald "Old Ghost" Bai understood the higher-ups' motives and knew their true faces well.
"So as long as we capture her, then we can use her to lure that guy and see if he's really connected to the beggar. If we can draw the beggar out, even better." Nangong Yan continued sneering.
Gerald "Old Ghost" Bai felt this made sense, so he asked, "Then leave Aiden Chu to me—are you going after her?"
"Yes, it's best if you handle it. As for Forden Wayne, you go hang out at the casino. If you hear anything about the beggar or that guy, report it all to me." Nangong Yan instructed.
"Understood." Forden Wayne immediately took the spirit crystal ore and headed to the casino.
Meanwhile, Nangong Yan and Gerald "Old Ghost" Bai stayed behind to plan their actions for the night.
Evan Yang hadn’t expected this old fox Nangong Yan to resort to such tactics. At this moment, he was browsing shops selling medicinal ingredients.
After visiting many shops, he finally spotted something good in one. In a corner of the store sat a piece of white wood, speckled with blood-red dots. Because it looked so strange, the shopkeeper had placed it there.
"Isn’t this Blood-Forest Wood?" Seeing the small piece of wood, Evan Yang recalled the description in the Herbal Heart Codex—it matched perfectly. What caught his attention was that this wood was unique: it could heal soul wounds. Evan, who had just been browsing, was excited to discover such a thing, so he stepped forward and asked, "Boss, how much for this piece of wood?"
"Which one?" The shopkeeper didn’t know which piece Evan Yang meant. After Evan pointed it out several times, the shopkeeper finally took out the piece, asking curiously, "You want this wood?"
"I like collecting unusual things." Evan Yang knew the shopkeeper didn’t recognize the wood, so he smiled.
"I see. Then I’ll sell it to you for ten low-grade Spirit Crystal Ores." The shopkeeper, seeing Evan Yang’s interest, decided to make some money off him.
Evan Yang was surprised at first, then smiled, "Ten it is." He handed over ten Spirit Crystal Ores, took the wood, and left the shop.
Watching Evan Yang leave, the shopkeeper muttered, "Nowadays, even a piece of useless wood can fool people."
Evan Yang, unaware that his actions had led the shopkeeper to misunderstand, was actually quite excited—he thought he’d need a lot of Spirit Crystal Ores, but ten was enough to get it.
"Blood-Forest Wood can nourish souls, but it’s not enough to make a soul body." Evan Yang found a spot and began studying the wood, muttering to himself.